Essential in nursing practice

Essential in nursing practice

This class has dealt with several key concepts that are essential in nursing practice. First, the class has provided the opportunity to research several healthcare challenges affecting specific populations and the social determinants of these critical health issues. One of the critical healthcare issues assessed during the class is stroke and its social determinants. The knowledge gained in this class regarding stroke will be useful in educating the public on the prevalence of social factors that may put them at risk of developing stroke and other chronic illnesses. The other important area covered in the course is the coordination of care.

The coordination of care is an integral aspect of the healthcare sphere since it ensures the efficient sharing of information amongst the healthcare professionals and facilitates the identification of specific healthcare needs of different groups in the community. Also, collaboration and teamwork are some of the merits of implementing coordinated care. The course has also touched on several communicable diseases in the community and how they affect the nurses. Specifically, this class has discussed both the benefits and drawbacks of mandatory vaccination of nurses. Generally, I think the nurse’s opinions and preferences should be considered before establishing mandatory flu shots.

Another critical area in this course is conducting interviews and observations to determine fundamental health problems and vulnerable populations. Further, the interview assignments looked at the role of both the community and public health nurses in helping these populations cope with the diseases. Some of the diseases that I observed include stroke, tuberculosis, and diabetes. All of these illnesses have some aspects of social determinants. A majority of the course covered transitional care nursing and its impact on the overall nursing practice. Also, several challenges facing effective transition, such as staying in abusive homes and poverty were identified as the key issues facing the transition care. However, TCNs are trained on how to implement the TCM effectively, which ensures efficient information sharing and identification of groups in the community that will benefit the most from the transition care (Naylor et al., 2018).

First, this learning has significantly impacted my skills in conducting interviews and observations that can help in gathering health information regarding several healthcare issues. Secondly, I have learned about the critical roles of transitional care nurses and how they are helping patients, especially those from abusive homes. Today, I now understand that every nurse should be actively engaged in helping patients who are vulnerable to violence, especially women and children. Overall, the class has been exciting!!

 

Reference

Naylor, M. D., Hirschman, K. B., Toles, M. P., Jarrín, O. F., Shaid, E., & Pauly, M. V. (2018). Adaptations of the evidence-based Transitional Care Model in the US. Social Science & Medicine, 213, 28-36.